Bike Profile

A local big miles rider was in this week and when we noticed his new wooden seat we all fell in love. Nice work Gary. This was his practice model and he had another shaped "blank" that would become his new seat after he works out any glitches with the one pictured.

He integrated a sweet bag carrying system as well. Easier to get at than an under-seat rack, but also keeping the weight well forward of the rear axle. Very nice.

It's pretty obvious that Gary's a high mileage rider that is willing to put some thought and energy into perfecting things for his commute. Here are some pictures of his bike.

Bacchetta Bella ATT features a fully triangulated frame

The Bella ATT is the new touring bike in the Bacchetta lineup. As an avid cycle tourist, I was excited to test this new ride. The design features a long, low, fully triangulated aluminum "truss" frame that will hold up to a hefty load and still remain stiff. I found the stiffness of the frame made for an efficient and speedy ride. The frame is plenty long to absorb road shock. And when the road gets extra rough, the cushy Recurve seat will take care of that harshness extremely well.

The pedal height is perfect for a touring recumbent. They're high enough that I can tip the seat to a fairly laid back position, yet low enough to make starts and stops a breeze. Being able to lay back the seat is critical to being able to comfortably pedal the bike all day long. If you can't lay the seat back, then you end up sitting too upright (on all your weight). This is fine if you're sitting down for lunch, but a real pain for extended periods. You need to be able to distribute your weight between your bottom and back for maximum comfort. We call this cradling and it'll make all the difference on longer rides.

Fast and smooth, the Bacchetta Bella ATT

Touring bikes (recumbent and upright) tend to be extremely versatile bikes. They are designed to carry a lot of gear and tend to have smart componentry suited to every day wear and tear (no matter what the weather is). I'd give Bella ATT designer Mark Colliton high marks on his new bike. The spec of the Bella ATT is fantastic and the frame design will allow a large load of up to 300 Lbs. (rider plus gear!). The Bella ATT will handle loaded touring with ease and the comfortable ergonomics will help the rider get in days and days (or weeks and weeks) of great touring. The seat height and pedal height set up the rider for a comfy fit, but it's really the stem and bars that finish off the fit so well. All Long Wheelbase bikes require large steering adjustments at slow speeds (6 mph or less). Colliton designed an ergonomic stem and handlebar combination that put your wrists in a natural position, allowing some slow speed steering adjustments with slight wrist movement. This makes for a much more stable feel at low speeds.  The B-Pivot riser clamp allows us to easily adjust bar position for a vast range of bodies.

I think the stiff frame, ultra comfortable seat and great ergonomics make the Bella ATT an excellent bike suited for a wide range of use (with touring at the heart of it). It also comes stock with high quality Disc brakes, as well as a good drive train with nice low gearing (real world!). The Bella ATT is available in two frame sizes to fit most everyone. Nice work Bacchetta.
Here's a video that I made while using the Bacchetta ATT for a shop warehouse run. In the end of the video there is a side view of me riding in front of the shop. Notice the easy, comfortable position my body is in. Pay special attention to my wrist and arm position. The neutral position of my arms will always keep the bike going straight with very little steering energy on the rider's part.

I cruise through downtown Minneapolis on route to the warehouse in Northeast Minneapolis. The route back I cut through the University of Minnesota, looping around the new outdoor stadium. Then I cross the Mississippi (again) and jump onto the Greenway Bike path. The Greenway Bridge is especially beautiful with views of downtown (while a light rail train runs under).

Check out the video on our youtube page: Bella ATT on youtube

The June century was scheduled for the last day of the month and was tagged "The Great Cargo Bike Century". Derek has a sweet Utilitarian Transports cargo bike. I have a most beautiful Larry vs. Harry Bullitt cargo bike.

The day before the ride I installed bar-ends, swapped on my clipless pedals, put on an XL stem and installed a cyclometer. Ready to Roll. I did add a few non-essentials for the ride: a couple of pink Flamingos and a cooler with ice, Izzies. San Pellegrino and a variety of snacks. I called Derek to see if he needed any help getting his UT ready to roll. The Heart of the UT is a Surly One x One (which we had converted to a One x Eight last week (see his new derailleur hanger here). Derek's response was to state the obvious in the world before the Bullitt: Cargo Bikes are not designed to do a century ride on. He's on for the ride, but he's going to pretend that his Surly Cross Check is a Cargo Bike : (

For a moment I panicked thinking that I might be setting myself up for more punishment than I could handle, but after a quick think (2 seconds) I decided I was right on track with the Bullitt as the day's steed. I thought for another 2 seconds about stripping off the deck from the Bullitt to save weight, but I decided that was silly and then as mentioned I ended up loading a cooler up (how often can I have fresh chilled grapes 80 miles into a century?).

The ride went smoothly and the Bullitt was a joy to be on, even at mile 99. I ended the day with 115 miles and put in a 5 hour day of work after the ride. The Gear range was perfect and the Alfine 8 speed hub shifted flawlessly all day long. The Bullitt is just a sweet riding bike that happens to be capable of carrying 200 pounds of stuff when I'm out and about.

This video is also available at our youtube page: Bullitt Century

See a Video of Derek's Utilitarian Transports Bike HERE

Minnesota is cold. So cold that we actually have ice. Lots and lots of ice and the ice lasts a long, long time. Pastor Paul (Minnesota also has a lot of Lutherans) wanted to use his new folding bike for more day-to-day riding in the winter (applause!) which he is well accustomed to doing in the warmer months (we have a few), but the heart of winter is a tough sell in Minnesota. Paul is an avid rider and actually was easily persuaded to winterize his Dahon Mariner with a pair of Schwalbe Winter Marathon tires. Sweet Ride!

Studded tires slow down the ride a bit, but not nearly as much as a serious patch of ice will slow you down when your not using studded tires (How fast am I going when I'm laying on the road?). We have some experience in regard to studded tires and we give a big thumbs up to the Schwalbe Marathon Winter Tires. These 20 inchers are 1.6" wide and take 70 psi. Nice! Chubby without being so wide that they'd cause you to float in snow and a high enough pressure to help you get to work on time (how civilized!). We also stock them in 700c as well as 26". We sell a lot of them and have a lot of happy customers because of them.